FIM Superbike World Championship Assen, Netherlands April 25, 2008 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 1098 F08), 1:39.677 2. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.009, crash 3. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.036 4. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:40.064, crash 5. Fonsi NIETO (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.195 6. Makoto TAMADA (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.278 7. Michel FABRIZIO (Duc 1098 F08), 1:40.375 8. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.409 9. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.496 10. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:40.520, crashed twice 11. Max BIAGGI (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:40.673 12. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.695 13. Carlos CHECA (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.745 14. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.746 15. Troy CORSER (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.778 16. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.817 17. Ruben XAUS (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:40.837 18. Ayrton BADOVINI (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.839 19. Gregorio LAVILLA (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.919 20. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.997, crash 21. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1), 1:41.156 22. Roberto ROLFO (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:41.279 23. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:41.561 24. Arie VOS (Duc 1098 RS08), 1:41.662, crash 25. Shuhei AOYAMA (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:42.289 26. Luca MORELLI (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:43.030 27. Russell HOLLAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:43.184 28. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:43.312 29. Loic NAPOLEONE (Yam YZF-R1), 1:43.439 More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX TEAM) TAKES PROVISIONAL POLE AT ASSEN TT CIRCUIT Assen (The Netherlands) Friday 25th April: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) and his Ducati 1098 F08 took provisional pole in this afternoon’s qualifying session at Assen’s TT Circuit. Despite a bad fall while training on his bicycle in Montecarlo two days ago, Bayliss was the only Superbike rider to lap in under 1m40s today. Dry conditions meant that all riders were nevertheless recording some very quick times with the 19 fastest riders behind Bayliss all lapping within a second of each other. Fellow Ducati Xerox Team rider Michel Fabrizio had a fall on his first lap out during the morning’s practice session but was unhurt and subsequently able to make strong progress in the afternoon, to conclude the first qualifying session in seventh position. Troy Bayliss 1m39.6s “It’s the first time we’ve been here on the 1098 but we started out pretty confident and feel that we have progressed in the right direction during this morning’s practice and then in qualifying this afternoon. There are a few things we want to test tomorrow morning if we have dry weather. I feel pretty good on the bike and am quietly confident so if we can make a few modifications to make my riding a bit more smooth then I’ll be very happy. Everyone is riding well today and the track always makes for close racing, with guys in all the classes going pretty quick. It would be great to have a dry weekend but here you never can tell – we’ll see how we go.” Michel Fabrizio 1m40.3s “This morning, just a few moments into the session, I was exiting a curve and just didn’t see a wet patch on the track in time. It was a shame I fell because then I only had the second bike to use for the rest of the session and we had spent less time preparing that machine. This afternoon went a lot better, as I went back to riding the first bike and I’d say we’re going well, although it was a shame we had the two red flags right at the end of the qualifying session, as I think I could have gone faster. Anyway tomorrow we’ll try a few different things but I can say that I am satisfied with my performance today.” TIMES: 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m39.6s; 2. Haga (Yamaha) 1m40.0s; 3. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m40.0s; 4. Smrz (Ducati) 1m40.0s; 5. Nieto (Suzuki) 1m40.1s; 6. Tamada (Kawasaki) 1m40.2s; 7. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m40.3s More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: KAGAYAMA 3RD IN ASSEN WSB QUALIFYING Team Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama finished the first day of qualifying at Assen with the third fastest time of the day on his GSX-R1000, less then three tenths of a second outside the lap record. Team mate Fonsi Nieto ended with the fifth fastest time and Max Neukirchner, recovering from a broken collarbone, finished eighth. Provisional pole went to Aussie Troy Bayliss (Ducati) with Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) second. Yukio Kagayama – 3rd, 1:40.036: “Today was not so bad and I didn’t have any big problems. We started with one of the bikes with the Valencia set-up and one different. But we soon found that the Valencia set-up didn’t work so well so we concentrated on getting the other one to work at this track. We worked a lot on the electronics, the chassis and improving the rear stability so that the bike is smoother and more comfortable to ride. Assen is a track where you have to have a smooth bike if you want to go fast, so this is our first goal.” Fonsi Nieto – 5th, 1:40.195: “I’m really happy with how today went. The bike is working well – much better then Valencia – even though the set-up is more or less the same! I found a good rhythm and everything was OK, except when I tried to do some quick laps at the end of qualifying, the red flag came out two times and I wasn’t able to get in a clean lap. I am happy because I did my fastest lap on tyres that had already done 13 laps. Tomorrow, I hope to do a good Superpole, get a good grid position and challenge for the podium in both races.” Max Neukirchner – 8th, 1:40.409: “This morning I think we went in the wrong direction, but in the afternoon we made the bike a bit stiffer and it was much better. I had a bit of a problem with the bike keeping a good line today, but I think we know what to do tomorrow and hopefully we will make progress. I didn’t have any problems with my shoulder today so I think it’s going to be OK for the weekend. Friday WSB qualifying: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:39.677, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:40.009, 3 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:40.036, 4 Smrz (CZ-Ducati) 1:40.064, 5 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:40.195, 6 Tamada (J-Kawasaki) 1:40.278, 8 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:40.409. More, from a press release issued by Sterilgarda Go Eleven: PRESS RELEASE | Assen, day-1 WSBK’08 Round 4 Unusual first day of qualifying at Assen for the team Sterilgarda Go Eleven. In the first timed session of the forth SBK round, no one of its riders takes a place into the top 10. Ruben Xaus’ performance has been negatively influenced by some traffic during his first attempt for the fast lap and then by a red flag while he was recording the fifth best time. If the weather will not turn bad, the Spanish rider feels confident to be able to better his 17th time tomorrow morning, and so getting the pass to run the Superpole in the afternoon. Max Biaggi focused his work on the race set-up, testing several solutions an getting many helpful data by which starting from tomorrow morning. In Superstock1000 Alex Polita takes the 6th temporary position. The rider from Jesi showed to be making progresses in both the sessions. RUBEN XAUS | Ducati 1098 RS | 17th time in 1’40.837: “Bad luck. I focused my work mainly on the race set-up and I spent only the last laps to set a fast time. I tried tyres and settings and I’ve found a good set-up as showed by today short long-run. Unfortunately I found Checa on my way when I was running to set a fast time and as well I was slowed down by the red flag during the second attempt. So now I’m temporary out of the Superpole. I feel confident to set a better time tomorrow. I just hope that the weather doesn’t change too much”. MAX BIAGGI | Ducati 1098 RS | 11th time in 1’40.673: “Today I worked on the set-up for the race, but I’m not totally satisfied although I get some improvements on the end of the session. We need to better the turning for the bike so we are going to work on it tomorrow” My physical conditions have bettered thanks to the therapy and the training, but when I make heavy efforts I feel a bit of pain still”. ALEX POLITA | Ducati 1098R | 6th time in 1’43.600: “The 80% of the work has been done. We just have to improve our performance in the middle part of the track. We have already found a good setting which is going to must be improved tomorrow. I aim at starting from the first line in order to fight for the podium since the first bend”. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: PRESS RELEASE | Assen, day-1 After the first day of qualifyng at Assen for the forth round of the WSBK championship, the Team Pedercini can say to be satisfied with the performances of its riders. Especially the whole team is really happy of Iannuzzo’s returs to the track. As well the problems met in the last round seems to be sorted out, and the mood of the team is high. At the end of the first day Ayrton Badovini is temporary in 18th position, while Iannuzzo is 28th. The two riders hope to improve their placing tomorrow, when the starting grid will be definitely settled. In Superstock1000 Yoann Tiberio gets a satisfying 9th place while Alessio Aldrovandi (23th) met some more difficulties mainly caused by a not optimal set-up. VITTORIO IANNUZZO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 28th time in 1’43.312: “I was buring to beh ere. I’m still feeling the pain especially under heavy efforts, but I could run more than thirty laps. I studied the track during the first session and then I tried to step on the accelerator, avoiding to take some risk. If the weather doesn’t change I feel confident to improve my position tomorrow. I’m really satisfied about my hand and I’m sure that Assen will be helpful to take back my feeling with the motorbike, and to get everything ready for the next round at Monza, in 15 days”. AYRTON BADOVINI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 18th time in 1’40.839: “I’m on the right way although I must better at the last double bend of the track. The track suits the features of our motorbike and the team have done a great job. After the first two parts of the track my time is into the top-10 but in the last part the motorbike loses grip and I can not capitalize the time. I want to better my time, I’m improving my performance lap by lap”. YOANN TIBERIO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 9th time in 1’43.713: “The experience collected in Valencia has been helpful to make better setting to the motorbike although we must reduce the gap from the front lines. Thanks to the data gathered today we are going to work on the front in order to get a better position tomorrow”. ALESSIO ALDROVANDI | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 26th time in 1’45.223: “I could not run as I wished maybe because of a lack of knowledge of the track. Tomorrow I will test some different setting solution in order to make a step forward on the grid”. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY UPBEAT DESPITE 15TH ON DAY ONE. Troy – 15th, 1:40.778 Today we had some things that worked well on one bike and some things that worked well on the other, so it was a question of trying to get the best ideas from each and making two good bikes for tomorrow. In doing that, we didn’t have a perfect bike, so there was no point pushing too hard and that’s why I ended up only fifteenth. But the times are very close and to do these kind of times on bikes that aren’t right yet gives me hope for tomorrow when we’ll improve for sure. I was lucky not to crash this afternoon when a Ducati rider fell right in front of me. I couldn’t work out which way he and his bike were going so I kept my options open. His bike started cartwheeling, but I managed to avoid hitting him and the bike, but it was a pretty close thing! Friday qualifying 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:39.677, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:40.009, 3 Kagayama (J-Suzuki) 1:40.036, 4 Smrz (CZ-Ducati) 1:40.064, 5 Nieto (E-Suzuki) 1:40.195, 6 Tamada (J-Kawasaki) 1:40.278, 15 TROY CORSER(Aus-Yamaha Motor Italia) 1:40.778 More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Haga Second on provisional grid at Assen Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) posted an impressive second fastest time in the first qualifying session at the Circuit van Drenthe while riding his number two bike, after an accident in the early part of the hour-long first qualifying session prevented him from using his number one machine. His team-mate Troy Corser spent his first day of action working through various machine settings in preparation for Sunday’s 22 lap Superbike races, and thus was an unusually lowly 15th on the first day rankings. Corser had to react quickly to avoid a crash that caused the first of two interruptions to the Superbike qualifying session, and the session was finally ended by a second red flag, with only seconds remaining. The day dawned with a wet track surface at Assen after overnight rain, but occasional sunshine and track temperatures which eventually almost hit 30°C allowed the lap times to drop and the teams to make progress in finding solutions for this fast and unique circuit. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) just edged out Corser in the first day’s order and a three rider Yamaha run was completed by Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi, who was 16th fastest. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was 21st fastest on the first day, but less than 1.5 seconds from provisional pole man Troy Bayliss. Noriyuki Haga (2nd – 1’40.009 – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “I didn’t have any problems after the crash, I just folded the front on the first right after the back straight. I used the second bike and it felt a bit different but we can make it feel more like my number one bike tomorrow. We need to get the gearing sorted as well, between third and fourth gear. We are nearly there with the overall set-up; we’ll just make some adjustments in the suspension settings. I think we have a choice of one tyre fitment, for the front and the rear, so tomorrow we will check that by doing a long run.” Troy Corser (15th – 1’40.778 – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “We are just trying different things, swingarms, shock specs and offsets, to try and get the bike set-up for the real race conditions. I know I can do the lap times in qualifying but we are trying to get the bike ready to do some long runs on the tyres. The track is not offering a lot of grip right now and when the bike slides it slides quite fast. I almost got tangled up in a crash at turn one, just missed the guy’s bike in front when he highsided.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Noriyuki’s fall left him on his second bike for most of the session and it seems he had a better feeling on his number one bike. But he improved his time even on his second bike and that was significant. Troy is working hard to get the bike balance right and they know what they are looking for in the set-up. I think as usual he will be right there for tomorrow.” Shinichi Nakatomi (16th – 1’40.817 seconds – Team YZF Yamaha) “We had a lot of early problems with the machine settings and with only 15 minutes remaining in the afternoon session we changed the rear shock, and went 1.5 seconds faster. I am sure we can make more progress tomorrow and I will push hard to get into Superpole.”